All Forum Posts by: Seth Nadreau

Curiously... What rental rates would you have charged without the nook?

Looks good!

An updated or renovated kitchen isn't the same topic the original post (or my subsequent replies) concerned. 

I never said an updated kitchen wouldn't increase rental incomes. I said it's very unlikely that the added cost of adding a nook during the renovation would. 

Alas, I've only done about 8,500 residential valuations in my life time... So what the heck do I know about diminished returns on upgrades. ;-)

In in short, money earned minus money spent.

You likely won't get one shiny nickel more in rent for that kitchen nook but you're going to be paying for it. In the end, you'll lesson your returns and spend more money. 

If its still widening, you can have a company come out and level it. N-Square is a good national company to use. It won't be cheap. 

If it's finally settled and on grade with the rest of the patio, get a good bonding silicone and a can of exterior concrete paint. Fill the crack with the first one and cover the patio with the second one. 

If it's slipping, you can also pound some re-bar in to the backside to prevent it from slipping further. Just do it right as to not create additional hazards. 

Personally, I'd leave it unless it becomes a hazard. 

NEVER EVER put borrowed money in to stocks.

HELOC is a great way to pay down any debt as the interest rates are usually lower than any credit card and/or car payment you may have. From a net worth snapshot.... it's not really "Investing"... it's gambling.

I took out a HELOC three months ago. Used it as a down-payment and renovations for an income property. Market rent is $1,600 and my mortgage + HELOC payment is $1,100. I hated tapping in to my personal equity, but I had to leverage it to get a new rental. That's $500 in monthly profit (which I'm actually using to pay off the HELOC principle) and I'm keeping the HELOC open instead of funding an account for reserves. 

Now I have tenants paying off my HELOC and my mortgage. I'll happily take my 31% profit/debt servicing each month rather than try to make 1% a month on stocks while carrying a large HELOC balance. 

Remember. Assets should be greater than liabilities... and stocks do much less to reduce your liabilities than an income flow does. 

Semantics, honestly.

All brokerages are created differently. 

- Some brokers only manage and don't work with buyers or sellers.

- Some brokers only work with sellers since buyer's typically require more effort.
- Some brokers may just refer you to another one of their agents since they can get money on the split and do no work.
- Some brokers run 100% brokerage houses and make their income on additional fees.

I hang my license at a 100% brokerage. Every agent here (who's done at least 10 deals) keeps their entire commission. There is an additional brokerage fee charged and an insurance fee... but I ALWAYS eat that fee rather than pass it on to my buyer/seller.

If you REALLY want to save some money on realtors, work out a deal to reduce commissions on the back end. (REALLY, if you're chasing a 1% rebate instead of flip or rental profit, you may already be stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.) When I work with my flip investors, I earn the full buyer's commission when they  purchase the property. I then save them money by reducing the commission when I sell the flipped house. For example, I may take 3% when you buy the house at $180,000... but when you sell at $300,000, the total fee is 4.5% (3% to the buyer's agent and only 1.5% to me). Any agent that would short the buyer's side is asking for increased marketing times. 

See... the way that works above, is that my investors and me are looking out for each other. Keep me working and I keep your costs down. 

I'm not sure why anyone would recommend just paying a lawyer when you BUY a house. In Florida, the seller pays commissions and buyer pays nothing. $0 on a buyer's agent is much better than $700 on a lawyer. 

Also... get him to cancel the buyer's agreement (IN WRITING) if he's not what you want.

Just let your next agent know that if you buy a house that your old agent showed you, then the old agent can make a claim on that commission check.

My short and sweet (and rather blunt) reply.

If you're an investor and on an MLS drip, I expect YOU to let me know when something piques your interest. I've worked with MANY investors and every single one of them knew their criteria more than I did.

My job for the investors is to get them on that drip. When something pops up that checks all the right boxes, they let me know. I show the property. If need be, I show it again. Then I run a rental analysis and provide rental comps. Then I run a CMA. Then I write an offer. Then I present a counter offer. Then I counter the counter offer. Then I meet the inspector. Then I meet the appraiser. Then we renegotiate the price. Then I meet the sink repair man. Then I go back and forth with title and the seller's agent half a thousand times. Then we go to closing. Then I follow up to see if you need anything at all.

Seems looking through your MLS drip (and the drips of my other 20 investors) and calling you to say "What about this one?" just isn't something I can fit in to my day. Doesn't mean I'm a bad agent. It means I expect my investor buyers to function with a certain level of autonomy and not need the hand-holding my first time buyers need. Make sense?

That said... if I'm MENTORING an investor, it's a whole different story.

Go with whatever is cheaper. Won't greatly effect marketability and won't effect rents at all. Keep ROI as your driving motivator.

Do not devalue your work. Period.

Realtor.com is the new "sign in the yard". Have you ever taken a lesser split because of a sign call rather than your legwork?

When I work buyers, even if they find their dream home on line, I still take them to it (usually multiple times), write an offer, deal with contract negotiations, pressure the lender, meet the appraiser, meet the inspector, write up addendums and extensions where needed, answer calls from stressed buyers at 9:30pm on a Sunday, harass the title company/real estate lawyer, push to get the property closed, explain the HUD statement, and pay to advertise myself and my properties on the very same website they found their dream home on.

Why give any of that up when it comes out of the seller's gross anyway? Just get your buyers a more expensive closing gift and keep going.